Introverted Reader

Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland: Book Review

At the tender age of 12, Polly Madassa has discovered Jane Austen and fallen hopelessly in love. Convinced that she's an Austen heroine born in the wrong time, Polly walks around her modern town speaking in Austen's flowery prose. She's only read Pride and Prejudice, and so has not learned Emma's lesson about meddling. Polly goes about delivering baked goods from her family's bakery and trying to spread happiness and love among her neighbors by matchmaking. Of course, as we all know, the course of true love is never smooth, and neither is this summer an easy one for Polly. A-dor-a-ble. That's all there really is to say about this. It's nothing terribly original for an older Austenite, but it's cute for the younger set. Polly is well-intentioned if misguided, and more than a few of us can probably relate to her. Who wouldn't be upset if her older sister neglected her for a boring boy? It's much better to set her up with the new boy in town who is not only handsome but also has a British accent! Right? Polly is an Emma, and so it was a little hard to feel sorry for her when everything comes crashing down on her, but she's plucky and she's a reader. This will be perfect for girls who might be a little too romantic for their own good. Moms will probably enjoy reading it with them. Find author Lindsay Eland on her website, her blog, and Twitter. Buy Scones and Sensibility at Malaprop’s | Better World Books I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore, and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.

Bookish Miscellany

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. This week I've Read: Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born, a graphic novel based on the series by Stephen King Twice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris Fablehaven by Brandon Mull Reviewed: Everlost by Neal Shusterman, read by Nick Podehl The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews, read by Isabel Keating The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif Currently Reading: The Dreaming Place by Charles de Lint (Actually, this is a re-read, not because I love it but because I want to read all of de Lint's Newford books in order) Travels With Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann, read by Mark Deakins Up Next: The Dreaming Place shouldn't take long to read at all. I checked out Linger by Maggie Stiefvater from the library last week, so that will be coming up soon, although I don't think it will be next. We'll see where my mood takes me. What are you reading this week? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore, and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.

7 Comments

June 13, 2011

The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif: Book Review

The Map of Love tells two stories. Primarily, it is about Anna Winterbourne, living in the early 1900s, and her fascination with Egypt. In the present, Isabel Parkman and Amal al-Ghamrawi have found a trunk of Anna’s journals and letters and set out to piece together her story, while living their own. The writing in this book was beautiful. There were some parts where the author seemed to be trying to show what a colorful, vibrant place her Egypt is and those just glowed. But my problem with beautiful writing is that I very often get bogged down and get bored and wish I could just get on with the story. I wish it didn’t happen, but it does. That happened for me here. I really enjoyed reading Anna’s story. She’s an interesting, brave woman who isn’t afraid to break out of the mold that’s been made for her. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stand Isabel and I was indifferent to Amal. I’m not exactly sure what the point of the book was. There definitely was a message, I just can’t decide how to take it. As an American reading a book by an Egyptian author, I’m afraid of misreading something. But, right or wrong, what I took away was the author trying to tell me that there’s more to her country than what I see in the news, and the problems that exist began in colonial times under British rule, but now under their own rule they aren’t doing any better. The poor are still oppressed and nothing seems to be changing. I hope I didn’t read all that wrong. That being said, I got bogged down in the politics, both present and past. I don’t know anything about Egyptian history and it felt like that was almost necessary to be…

Introverted Reader Features

Character Connection: Tom Builder

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett takes place in the 12th century. Times were tough. One bad summer could wipe out a crop, causing many people to starve. Medicine was for all practical purposes non-existent. Anyone different or new was greeted with deep suspicion. England was on the brink of a civil war. Yet in all this, we meet Tom Builder. He's a dreamer. He's also quietly brilliant. In the first few pages of his story, he loses his job, gets attacked by bandits, and loses his wife as she gives birth to their son. Yet he dreams on. He accepts people for what they are. When he meets Ellen, a woman whom others see as a witch, he eventually accepts her help. When her bastard son shows a genius for architecture, Tom teaches him. The cathedral of his dreams is a thing of beauty. He feels that when you are worshiping the Creator of all Heaven and Earth, you should do so in an airy place filled with light and beauty. Convention holds that cathedrals can't be built that way because they'll fall down. Tom knows they can. As other people tell him that he can't build the cathedral that he dreams of, he goes about showing them that he can. Other men might stand back and watch as others do all the manual labor. Tom is out there working harder than anyone. I can't remember if he actually helps quarry the stone, but he definitely helps dig foundations and lay block and whatever other dirty work goes into building. He also supervises the men, who are mostly untrained, and I remember him as being fair and patient. He does have a blind side when it comes to his oldest jerk of a son, but nobody's perfect.…

2 Comments

June 9, 2011

The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews: Book Review

Dempsey Killebrew is having a very bad day. She and her handsome boss, Alex, are all over the evening news, smack in the center of a political scandal. They're lobbyists accused of buying a Congressman's votes with a vacation to the Bahamas and, um, hookers. Not the situation that a rising young lawyer wants to find herself in. Injury is added to insult when Alex fires her. With no other options, Dempsey reluctantly accepts the deal her father offers--she can fix up the family mansion back in the tiny town of Guthrie, Georgia, and he'll give her part of the proceeds from the sale. Life in a small town is more interesting than Dempsey expects, especially when she realizes that the "mansion" is a dump, a belligerent old lady has decided the house is hers, FBI agents are sniffing around, and there are some very eligible men in town. I had a ball listening to this! I'll admit that this isn't really any new ground for Mary Kay Andrews, but she does this so well that I just don't care. Old houses/antiques, spunky heroines, and handsome men are a winning combination in her hands. Dempsey herself is a little whiney at first, but if I'm being honest, I would whine much more if I found myself in a similar situation. And then to go running home to Daddy! I just wanted to tell the girl to grow up. But when she gets to the house and she has to start dealing with contractors and Ella Kate, the mean old lady, and the FBI, she has to learn to stand on her own feet. And she handles it beautifully. I'm pretty sure I was cheering by the end. Speaking of Ella Kate, she is mean as a rattlesnake. I wanted to…

Everlost by Neal Shusterman: Book Review

Nick and Allie were traveling in opposite directions on a windy mountain road. After a terrible accident, they find themselves traveling down a tunnel toward a light. But they bump into each other again and don't get where they're going. Instead, they end up in Everlost, a ghostly realm that co-exists with our world and is populated with other children who didn't get where they were going. They have a hard time accepting their new status as "Afterlights," a name appropriate for the unearthly glow they have now in their afterlives. Of course, they decide to go home. On the way, they meet many other Afterlights and hear terrible stories about a monster named The McGill, a shadowy figure known as The Haunter, and a famous girl known as either Mary Hightower or Mary, Queen of Snots, depending on your view of her. Eh. I admit that I was a little taken aback by the opening scene and the car crash. It's not graphic, but I expected a YA/MG book to open after the crash, not describe a head-on collision. My big thing was that I didn't really like anyone. Nick was okay and Leaf was fun, but Allie? She quickly establishes herself as a bossy know-it-all who doesn't listen to anyone else. She gets worse from there--and she's a main character. I really need to like my main characters. I was never sure what to think about Mary either. She's so angelic that you have to suspect she's up to something. Plus, the narrator read her with a holier-than-thou tone which just set my teeth on edge. There's a twist toward the end that I saw coming from miles away, and I think a lot of other readers will too. This next bit is going to be way too…

Bookish Miscellany

Weekly Update for June 6, 2011

Welcome to my weekly update for June 6, 2011! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. I missed posting last week because of the holiday, so over the past two weeks, I've posted [...]

11 Comments

June 6, 2011

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi: Book Review

4 Stars. I just read Art Spiegelman’s Maus about a month ago and loved it. I thought I would go ahead and give this other highly-acclaimed graphic novel/memoir a try. I enjoyed it, if that’s the correct word, but it didn’t affect me quite the same way Maus did. I’m not too sure why. Maybe it’s because I know more about WWII than [...]

Introverted Reader Features

Josey Cirrini: Character Connection

Josey Cirrini is one of the main characters in Sarah Addison Allen's The Sugar Queen. Josey was a little brat as a child. She pitched temper tantrums so epic that the people of her small town are still talking about them now that she's an adult. And there is Josey's problem. She's grown, she's changed, but no one recognizes [...]

1 Comment

June 2, 2011

Introverted Reader Features

Saturdays in the South Master List

These are all the authors who have been kind enough to stop by and guest post about the South. Robin Caroll--Injustice for All Michael Hervey--Soundkeeper Melinda McGuire--Josephine: Red Dirt and Whiskey Taylor M. Polites--The Rebel Wife Olivia deBelle Byrd--Miss Hildreth Wore Brown Susan Kelly--By Accident Kathryn Lively--Little Flowers I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.

0 Comments

June 1, 2011